Darkness before the Dawn
by Whatchuknowbouts
Summary: What if a small change occurred in the Naruto world? What if Naruto was stronger and knew of Hinatas feeling and returned them? How would things work out?
1. Chapter 1

Darkness Before the Dawn

Darkness Before the Dawn

Naruto nonchalantly walked into the classroom. His eyes danced quickly around the room and soon settled, as usual, on none other than Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto's eyes slowly focused on to the Hyuuga heiress, having quickly slid over the entire classroom. Naruto sent a small concentrated blast of chakra to Hinata to get her attention. Almost as soon as the blast was sent toward Hinata, she jerked her head toward Naruto.

Strong lavender eyes clashed with desolate cobalt orbs as Hinata focused on Naruto. Naruto quickly cocked his head to the left and focused the best he possibly could on Hinata. Hinata shook her head in a negative gesture and watched Narutos face fall with a pang of guilt. _'I'm so sorry Naruto-kun'_ Hinata thought to herself, _'I just don't feel like I could keep up the façade today._' Naruto quirked his head to the other side quickly and focused as closely as the first time on Hinata to gauge her reaction. Naruto's face plummeted at seeing Hinata nod her head ever so slightly.

'_Crap, __I really don't feel like putting up with the beating and the getting yelled at today.'_ Naruto thought to himself. He quickly steeled his resolve and quickly scanned the room for Sakura. He quickly positioned his façade up and started toward the biggest Sasuke fangirl in his class. "Hey Sakura-chan, do you want to go out with me?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"No you loser!" Sakura screamed back. "I would never go out with you; I just want to stay with Sasuke-kun all day." Sakura said while latching onto the last remaining Uchiha.

Sasuke shifted in his chair uncomfortably as Sakura latched onto his arm with all of her freakish fangirl strength. He glared at Naruto and winked at him to convey a private message. Naruto just nodded his head and turned around and headed back towards his seat. Naruto took his seat in back of the class, right behind Hinata, and started to doodle in his notebook before class started.

"Okay everyone, quiet down," Iruka said as he 'poofed' into the classroom, "Class has begun, and we cannot waste time. The exam is the day after tomorrow and we must train to improve our skills."

"But Iruka-sensei what if we already have the skills to pass? Like me or Hinata or Sasuke, or Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto-baka, don't even mention yourself or that stuttering little failure in the same breath as me and Sasuke-kun." Sakura said with an air of superiority.

At Sakura's ignorant and short-sighted statement Hinata made a move to rise and say something scathingly rude to Sakura. But before she could stand up Naruto flicked a small note at the back of Hinatas head to keep her calmed down. Hinata picked up the hastily written note and opened it to read the contents. It read 'Hinata calm down. You can't break the façade we have been working to set up over the past four years because Sakura insulted us. Meet me and chicken butt at the usual place. See you after class… I love you. Fox boy.'

Iruka glanced up at Hinata, and he saw the note she was reading and made a move to bring attention to it until he saw that Naruto was obsessively staring at her, as if to gauge her reaction. Seeing this seemingly rapid change in Naruto's demeanor, he merely leaned back and let his two love struck students continue as they were, seeing as it was the last week of school. Iruka also noticed a slight flaw in Hinata's complexion as she read the note. It seemed she was blushing two different colors.

Hinata's eyes widened to epic proportions and the ever-present blush was now an actual blush, instead of the typical genjutsu she used to add to the façade that she was shy and easily embarrassed. _'He loves me.'_ Hinata thought to herself as she read the words over and over again. She felt a sensation in herself she hadn't felt for almost four years… and she fainted on her desk right then and there.

As the resounding thump from Hinata's face plant into the desk rang through the room, every eye snapped to Hinata. Kiba ran straight to Hinata's side and tried to revive her. Naruto stared at the young dog boy as Kiba tried to revive Hinata with minimal success, but maximum success at rubbing Hinata's cheek and trying to touch as much of her face and skin as possible.

"Hey dog boy, stop rubbing up on Hinata-chan," Naruto roared as his anger reached a boiling point. Naruto leaped over his desk and landed in front of Kiba and prepared to clobber Kiba.

"Hey, why are you so concerned with how I act with Hinata-chan? It's not like you two are dating or anything. Last time I checked, you liked Sakura… and when did you ever start calling Hinata 'chan', instead of Sakura?" Kiba retorted.

"Well, for your information, I'm concerned about how your trying to get a feel on Hinata-chan, because you two are about to graduate, and then you're an adult in the eyes of the village, and I'll bet all my family's money if her dad found out about how you were molesting her, he would have you castrated… without an anesthetic," Naruto stated coolly, with only a hint of his anger seeping out, but with killing intent which served to freeze everyone in the room, except for Iruka and a now awake Hinata.

"Yeah, well at least I have a chance with the girl I like. I don't go after a girl who is hopelessly stuck on some conceited jerk; I go after a girl with taste and brains. You will never have a chance with the girl you have a crush on, whereas I will eventually have the girl of my dreams beside me," Kiba retorted quickly.

"No, I'll admit you don't go after the girl stuck on me… but you do go after a girl that is hopelessly stuck on one guy: a hopelessly, dense dope," Sasuke piped up from the other side of the strangely quiet room.

"Oh yeah Uchiha, you couldn't even hope to get Hinata, and I happen to know that Hinata isn't stuck on one guy… I would know if she was seeing someone, as I've known her since our second year at the academy, and she hasn't changed since," Kiba said from his side of the room.

"Look Kiba, you're fight is with me, not the teme. Why don't we settle this like men instead of boys? Iruka-sensei, I request a spar with Inuzuka Kiba, and if I don't get the spar, we'll settle this outside of class, and one if not both of us, will end up in the hospital…" Naruto's eye twitched slightly as he continued to look at the Inuzuka, "…and if he keeps rubbing Hinata-chans cheek, it'll be the morgue," Naruto stated calmly and without preface.

Iruka sighed heavily and thought _'I am going to kill Mizuki for getting the flu today.' _He then heavily suppressed the urge to rub the bridge of his nose to prevent the onrushing headache. "Fine, you have a spar, but you can't kill each other, that's the only rule," Iruka stated mildly.

Kiba whooped his joy, while Naruto merely walked to the sparing grounds. They stood facing each other surrounded by their classmates and sensei. They stood an equal distance apart from each other and bowed before taking up their separate taijutsu stances. Iruka stood at the edge of the field and raised his hand to signal the beginning of the match.

OoOoO

Naruto walked quickly away from a prone Kiba and walked off of the field, pausing only to bow to Iruka. Iruka stood stock still, staring at the dead last student and his other student and back again. "Winner by knockout is Naruto Uzumaki."

The entire class was standing still from shock, after watching the extremely violent demonstration of raw power, and watching one of the few non-Hyugga who could use Jyuuken, walk off of the sparring field with a look of mild relief on his face. "Well, that was a nice break from the monotony of everyday life," Naruto said. "Can we go back inside now?"

Iruka smiled at his student, "Sure, we can go inside Naruto, just see me after class."

The remainder of the first half of the day passed almost with out incident. The only other incident was when, during lunch, Shino released his bugs to eat and they ended up in Narutos instant ramen cup. The second half of the day passed with no more incidents as the girls and guys separated. At this time the guys practiced weapons accuracy, and the girls practiced… something else.

The final bell rang for the dismissal of class and Naruto grabbed his book and made a valiant effort to make it to the door before he heard, "Naruto I need you to stay behind, we have to talk."

Naruto groaned and walked to the front of the room and stood in front of Iruka, "What do you need Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well Naruto today you used some high level, very well guarded taijutsu techniques. You also showed a level of ability in taijutsu that you didn't show during class. And to top the list today you used the Jyuuken fighting style which is a Hyuuga family secret art. All I want to know is how the dead last in my class defeated one of my highest ranking students in Taijutsu, and used a hidden clan taijutsu technique?" Iruka asked.

"Well for the last three years I've been training with Uchiha Sasuke and that's why I was good with regular taijutsu. I merely fake how bad I am normally so people will underestimate me and I'll be able to win quicker. And for the past five years I've been training with Hyuuga Hinata and her father. Her father taught me the Jyuuken strikes and I memorized the different areas to strike to cut off the Tenketsu points, with a little help from Kyubbi of course. And after the memorization of the Tenketsu points the remaining usage of the Jyuuken is to shut down the internal organs and all that is, is simply remembering where everything is in the body. Although I sometimes have a problem remembering the different between large and small intestine," Naruto said.

"So you've trained for the last four years in many dangerous techniques, and you never once thought to mention it to me?" Iruka asked. "Naruto that's tantamount to lying. A man once said 'Rarer than silver gold or any precious gem is truth for truth can only be found when all else is sacrificed. So Naruto will you tell me the truth and sacrifice what you have?"

"Why would I tell someone who thought of me as a demon the first time he saw me, a very big secret to use against me and who could very easily tell the Hokage or Council that I'm getting more powerful and therefore have me assassinated. So explain to me why I would tell you something so personal?" Naruto asked angrily.

"Well I am a teacher and I change with what I learn… just like my students. Today had I know you knew so many dangerous techniques I would have denied you the spar and merely had Kiba serve a detention for disturbing the class and I would have told him about why I didn't allow the spar."

"Well Iruka-sensei I believe that everyone is entitled to their own little secrets, and I'll keep some secrets till my grave. Please don't tell anyone my secrets sensei," Naruto asked.

"I agree with you Naruto, everyone is entitled to their own secrets. But the fact remains that you'll have to explain the fighting ability you displayed. I know I'm the only one in this school to realize you and Hinatas closeness so just say that you attacked like she did during sessions when you sparred with her. And tell anyone that asks I kept you behind because of grades."

"Thank you Iruka-sensei. I'm very grateful for this… I expected you to hold this over my head. Once again thank you," Naruto said gratefully.

"Well even so that doesn't excuse your lack of telling me what allowed you to learn so many high level skills."

"Well I'm sorry Iruka-sensei… but I still believe I was right. I will not lie to you Iruka-sensei; everyone deserves the truth every once in a while. I don't want to put my self in jeopardy. I didn't tell you because for the last four years here I was treated as the demon I jail. None of the teachers saw me as me the looked and they saw Kyubbi. So forgive me if I don't feel comfortable telling a teacher anything."

"Well Naruto believe it or not I have changed my opinions about you. I see how you care for and love Hinata and I know that you are not the demon because I believe a demon cannot love," Iruka stated.

"Wait a moment I don't love Hinata, I think she's shy and quiet and kinda weird, but I do care about her. Plus it's not true a demon cannot love I have been carrying on conversations with Kyubbi since we met about five years ago. He sometimes talks about when he was in love with another Kyubbi and I know that he truly did love her," Naruto countered.

"Well Naruto you can deny you love Hinata until you are blue in the face but it just seems strange that you walk with and go train after school with a girl you don't love. And you only ask Sakura out after you get a certain signal from Hinata, and plus I saw the note you passed to Hinata today during the first half of the class before you went after Kiba. But the topper of the list is this, that you passed Hinata a note that caused her to blush two different shades of red, which is only possible when a genjutsu is involved to make the person look like they are already blushing and that is exactly what happened today."

"No Iruka-sensei you should know it's impossible to hold a genjutsu while unconscious so there is no way that Hinata-chan could have used a genjutsu."

"Fine Naruto we've had our back and forth. You're free to go, all I really wanted to know was how you knew the Jyuuken and were so strong in taijutsu," Iruka stated.

Naruto briefly hugged Iruka, grabbed his bag and books, and ran out the door at a dead sprint. He ran for the secluded clearing that he, Hinata, and Sasuke all trained at.

OoOoO

Naruto ran into the clearing at a dead run, and barely managed to stop before running into a Jyuuken strike that would have hit him dead in the center of the forehead and shredded his frontal lobes. This would have made him a vegetable and a possible food source during a famine.

Seeing Naruto barely dodge her strike Hinata stopped her kata in mid-pattern and stood in a slightly defensive posture. Sasuke glanced over from his spot at one of the other training dummies in the clearing and yelled at Naruto to release the genjutsu on his clothes and get rid of the horrible neon orange jumpsuit. Naruto complied with Sasukes' wishes and released his genjutsu. His clothes changed from a vibrant orange to a pair of jet black pants and a white jacket with a red spiral pattern over one arm and a cluster of four stars over the other, with a black undershirt completing the ensemble.

Naruto opened his eyes after removing the genjutsu; he then hugged Hinata briefly, and got to work on the last training dummy in the clearing. After Sasuke had completed his fifth or sixth Kata he decided it was time to go home. "Hey dobe I'm going home; I need to practice the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu before the graduation test. It's harder for me 'cause I don't have your insane chakra or Hinatas control so I'm going to go to my families' chakra-rejuvenation chamber so I don't kill myself. Later dobe, Hinata-san," Sasuke called.

Naruto yelled back an affirmative and watched as Sasuke walked home. Not long after Sasuke was out of ear shot Naruto felt a very familiar chakra signature appear behind him. Naruto turned and wrapped his arms tightly around Hinata as she appeared in front of him. Hinata allowed her self to be pulled into the hug Naruto was giving her, and she rested her head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. They stayed in this position for almost fifteen minutes before Hinata spoke, "So why did Iruka-sensei keep you after class.?"

Naruto groaned inwardly before replying, "He wanted to know about what had happened in the fight with Kiba."

"So… what did you tell him?" Hinata inquired.

"I told him the truth… everything that I probably should have told him before the fight with Kiba," Naruto said.

"You idiot," Hinata screamed as she tore herself away from Naruto, "How could you tell him everything. You may have just ruined an extremely delicate façade that we've spent the last four years working on in the span of less than an hour! He could tell the council and have you assassinated for you power. Or worse yet you'll be tortured and made into a living weapon to attack and kill the other villages shinobi. If he tells everyone it'll bring closer scrutiny onto me and I'll be put up on some pedestal. Then we'll never get to see each other 'cause no one wants the 'demon fox brat' and the Hyuuga heiress to date. We'll be broken up and I'll be sold to some rich suitor when I'm old enough to marry and… I just… I love you, you idiot and I don't want to lose you Naruto-kun," Hinata yelled, screamed, sobbed, and raged, with tears in her eyes.

Naruto tentatively drew Hinata back into the hug and allowed her to cry into his undershirt. He rubbed her back in small circular patterns in, what he hoped was, a soothing motion. He felt her arms wrap around him as well in a death grip hug as he whispered nonsensical comforting words in her ear as she cried.

After almost half an hour Hinata had regained her composure and straightened in Narutos arms. She retained her death grip around his torso and rested her head against his chest again and listened to his heart beat through his undershirt. "I don't want to lose you either Hinata-chan but the fact is Iruka-sensei deserved the truth. I told him because we've kept the secret for so long it feels good letting someone whom I'm positive won't tell another soul know about it. I'm sure Iruka won't tell anyone about what I told him because he understands the importance of secrets."

Hinata nodded into Narutos chest seeing the logic of his statement. She pulled back from his embrace just enough to have a slightly better range of movement. After which she stood on her tiptoes just enough to kiss Naruto before she allowed herself to be embraced again.

Naruto broke the embrace and grabbed one of Hinatas hands and lead her to one of the many trees outlining the clearing. Naruto sat down and Hinata sat down next to him as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and used the other to hold her hand. Hinata sat leaning against Naruto, resting her head against his chest. They stayed like this and talked.

After they had sat like this for an immeasurable amount of time Hinata suddenly became very quiet and didn't talk anymore. Naruto was genuinely curious as to why Hinata wasn't talking so he leaned and maneuvered so he could she Hinata's face. He saw her eyes were closed and she had a small smile on her face. _"Holy cow, Hinata-chan is asleep… and she's using me as a pillow.' _Naruto, much like any guy would do in this predicament, panicked. He didn't move any but he realized if anyone walked into the clearing he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

After convincing himself that no one would walk into the clearing Naruto allowed himself to relax. Soon after he relaxed he felt the grip of unconsciousness settle over his mind and he slept.

Darkness, and a dark cloud, promising rain, had settled over the clearing when finally Naruto woke up. He saw the clouds threatening rain hovering over him and quickly shook Hinata awake. Hinata awoke with a grumble and a promise of quick and certain death if the person that had woken her wasn't a friend or loved one. She took one glance at Naruto and the night sky and immediately jumped up.

"What has happened Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Well Hinata-chan I guess we both fell asleep and now it's well after your curfew and it's going to rain soon. So I guess we need to get you home." Naruto replied not noticing the panic in Hinatas voice.

Hinata ran around the clearing picking up weapons and her jacket, which she removed for training. Soon after Hinata gathered her belongings Naruto and Hinata began the journey into Konoha quickly… Ninja Style. Hopping through the trees at breakneck speed they talked only when it was strictly important to mute the chance of one or both of them running into a tree truck or landing on an unstable branch. They made the transition between treetops and rooftops seamlessly and continued onto their destination.

The rain came within a few moments of Naruto and Hinatas entry into Konoha. The duo landed on the pavement before reaching the Hyugga estates so they didn't seem like attackers. They continued to run toward the household as soon as they landed and skidded to a stop right outside the outer gates. Hinata then walked slowly and regally through the gates with Naruto trailing behind her.

As soon as they entered the house Hinata saw the worried look on her fathers face. She saw the face of the human he hid under the mask of regality and disinterest. She saw her daddy, the man that had loved her since childbirth and would continue to love her, in that one simple glance. When Hiashi saw Hinata standing there unconsciously holding Narutos hand he sighed in relief. "Hinata, where have you been?" Hiashi asked his eldest daughter, "I was worried about you."

Hinata stepped up to tell her father what had happened but, "I'm extremely sorry sir. Hinata-chan and I were training and we ended up talking about a delicate matter. We then sat down to rest after we had trained for quite a while and ended up dozing off for almost two hours. I'm sorry Hinata is home so late after curfew and it is truly my fault that she is late."

Hiashi regarded Naruto with a look of scrutiny. "I see that you are being truthful and not lying to me. I'm very proud of you for you honesty and courage in telling me this," Hiashi then turned his attention to Hinata, "Hinata please go eat something shower and go to bed, it is very late and I don't want you to be late for class tomorrow morning." Hinata nodded and ran to comply with her fathers wishes.

Hiashi then turned back to Naruto. "I am glad you have brought Hinata home safely and would like to offer you an invitation to stay here the night. It is flooding outside and I would like to be completely sure you are safe."

Naruto stared at the head of the Hyuuga clan with mild shock. "S-S-Sir I'm very grateful for your offer; I wasn't looking forward to having to walk home in this storm so your offer is most defiantly accepted. Thank you sir," Naruto said gratefully.

Hiashi nodded with the barest of movements, "I will send someone to your home to inform your father that you will be here tonight, I am certain he will not object."

Naruto nodded and thanked Hiashi again for the offer. Hiashi smiled at the young boy seeing his genuine happiness at the offer. Hiashi then showed Naruto to a guest bedroom, right next to his room, and right across from Hinatas room. Naruto walked into the room found a pair of pajamas and changed from his daily attire to his sleep wear and was asleep within seconds.


	2. Sinking Moon

Hiashi twisted and turned in his bed, plagued by nightmares of his late wife's death. He sat up straight in bed and barely held back the scream that was fast approaching. "Hanna," Hiashi whispered to himself. "Why did you have to go? Why did you have to decide to go out to the river to think when it was raining? You should have known it was nearly impossible to walk on water when it was raining so hard, and after you had just gotten over your sickness," Hiashi lamented his wife's loss in his bed comforted by the sound of Hinatas slight snoring in her room across the hall and the much louder snoring from the room directly next to his own.

Soon after he was awoken from his fitful sleep he ran over the events that had led to his meeting Naruto and agreeing to train him all those years ago. "It was almost five years ago when I got that letter. I saw the name in the 'From' box and assumed it was a prank right away, but the moment Hinata saw the letter with the Yondaimes name on it she insisted on reading it." Hiashi sighed remembering the memory. "If, at that time, I had known about Naruto I would have gladly found him earlier and taken him in. I still can't believe he was so vague in a letter eight years after his own death. The entire letter said was 'Remember my legacy,'" Hiashi sighed and rolled over on his side and fell back into a restless and dreamless sleep.

OoOoO

The sun entered in shafts as Naruto began to wake up. While he was still in a stage of semi-consciousness he realized he was not on his bed. The bed he was staying in currently was soft, large, fluffy, and had absolutely no lumps in it. With this realization, Naruto panicked. While outside he seemed extremely calm and focused, inside he was in a state of terror. He opened his eyes to see a large room with his clothes, washed dried and pressed, waiting for him on the oversized dresser. Naruto started, somewhat, out of his former stupor and quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his street clothes quickly. "Where am I?" Naruto asked himself seeing that the décor of the house was familiar but the room its self was vague and didn't jive with any of his memories.

As Naruto was walking out of the room he had found himself in he went by instinct to his bathroom, which was right across the small hall in his apartment. He opened the door with his mind still coming out of a state of half-sleep, when the door was opened he saw Hinata standing in front of him in her pajamas. Naruto was only slightly aware of the fact that he was standing in front of his girlfriend who was wearing only a pair of shorts and a massively over sized tee-shirt. When the realization finally sunk in that he wasn't standing in the door to his bathroom he turned a bright red color and slammed the door on Hinata.

'_How did Hinata end up in this… wherever I am?' _Naruto asked himself wile he was creeping slowly toward a wholly conscious state. After a moment the events of the night before came rushing back to Naruto. "Holy crap… I just spent the night in one of the guest rooms of one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha… and I'm not even a ninja yet." This realization filled Naruto with joy and he walked out of the room with a small smile on his face and walked by memory to the dining room, hoping that he could get some breakfast before he left for the academy.

When Naruto walked into the dining room he immediately saw Hinata sitting and eating breakfast. He quickly looked at anything but Hinata, remembering his earlier… incident walking in on Hinata. Hiashi merely spared a glance at the young man and continued talking to the man sitting at his right side. "Hello Hiashi-sama, Hizashi-sama," Naruto greeted both the men in the room. He sat in the vacant seat next to Hizashi and across from Hinata.

Hizashi spared a glance at Naruto and said quite serenely, "I heard you brought Hinata in after curfew last night. Nothing happened that my brother or I should know about I hope?" The light and seemingly carefree manner Hizashi asked his question was belied by a careful scrutiny of Narutos facial features and body language as he answered.

At the implication Naruto blushed as he glanced at the entire group in the dining room knowing that the wrong answer could get him seriously injured. "N-N-N-No sir… nothing happened we were training and time got away from us. Nothing happened last night; it was simply an odd coincidence that Hinata was a few moments late for her curfew. As I said last night to Hiashi-sama I am sorry I brought Hinata home late and wish I could have gotten her home in time for her curfew," With that Naruto looked down at his plate of food and swallowed it almost completely whole as he wanted to escape the possible mine field that the dining room was quickly becoming, and to escape to the safe haven known as school.

Naruto glanced briefly down at his plate after wolfing it down while still maintaining an acceptable pace and decorum. After he had cleared his plate he stood up quickly, he thanked Hiashi for the meal and allowing him to stay the night and proceeded to run back up the stairs to grab his and Hinatas books, which were on a table outside of her room.

As Naruto landed at the bottom of the stairwell after a leap of daring-do… at least it would have been if he were a civilian taking a leap from that height. Naruto merely smiled at Hinata and handed her the books he had gotten of hers. Hinata giggled at Narutos antics and began to walk out of the house after giving her father and sister each a hug and a kiss on the cheek and hugging her uncle and cousin.

Naruto and Hinata passed the guards outside the Hyuuga compound and then glanced at each other briefly before both breaking into a sprinting match. Naruto and Hinata each had mile wide grins plastered on their faces as they both responded to the unspoken challenge between them. Naruto himself had greater speed but he ran slightly slower than he could have, so that he was dead even with Hinata. It was astounding really, Hinata ran faster to stay even with Naruto and Naruto ran slower to stay even with Hinata.

The two sprinted almost all the way to the Academy, and slowed as the looming building came into view. With hands outstretched a resounding 'thunk' was heard as Naruto and Hinatas hands hit the building at the same time.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other breathlessly and both broke out into mad giggles at the look of euphoria on the others face. Naruto managed to regain his composure first and got his breathing back under control as he waited for Hinata to regain her composure.

After Hinata had got her breathing and composure under control she looked at Naruto. "You know Naruto-kun we need to go around the front of the building. If we stay back here for much longer a teacher is bound to come out here and wonder how you and I ended up back here together and ask some questions that we might not want to answer."

"So what's the plan for today?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Well since you had to put up with Sakura yelling yesterday I guess you can be spared the agony of having to listen to her voice today… unless you get really unlucky," Hinata said.

Naruto nodded his consent. Before Hinata could move from her spot and start around the school Naruto grabbed her hand and wrapped her into a quick embrace. "We do need to be at the front of the building soon, that's true, but can't we stay here like this for just a few minutes Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked. Naruto smirked as he felt Hinata rest her head against his chest, "So I guess that's a yes huh?"

After a few moments that felt like an eternity to the young almost ninja they broke apart and smiled at each other as Hinata went to the left and Naruto started to the right, so they wouldn't look like they were arriving at the same time.

OoOoO

Hinata walked around the final corner in the building and was that Ino and Sakura were as always fighting. Hinata openly grinned as she saw Ino slap Sakura and walk away. Hinata almost panicked as she saw the furious Ino storming toward her.

"Hey Hinata-chan," Ino greeted, "How's life treating you?"

Hinata smiled and began to relax as she saw that Ino was furious only at Sakura, "I'm doing fine Ino-chan. I'm pretty lucky I didn't get grounded last night, I got home from training past my curfew."

Ino smirked at hearing the news. "Wow Hinata that's something I'd never expect from you. Although last night around 10 I was looking out my window and I thought I saw you and Naruto jumping around the village as fast as you could go?"

Hinata gulped the knot that had suddenly appeared in her throat. "Well Ino I guess you need to know this then, apparently the lunch that they served at the academy yesterday was mixed with a mild hallucinogenic. Besides why would I be with Naruto? Come on Ino you know how I feel about Naruto… and you also know that I'm way too much of a coward to tell him how I feel."

Ino nodded slowly, "Yeah I know how you feel about Naruto… I still think that you should tell him how you feel about him. You know he'd probably return your feelings; he may act stupid sometimes but after what he did to Kiba yesterday I think he's holding something back. I'm not quite sure, and with Naruto who really is, but I think its something that he has a lot invested in," Ino nodded sagely at her own perceptiveness into Narutos deepest emotions and feelings.

"Yeah Ino I know Naruto would probably agree to go out with me… but he seems smitten with Sakura and I don't want to ruin his chances with her," Hinata said somewhat timidly.

"Well any guy that would pick Sakura over you is a total and complete baka. You just need some self confidence Hinata-chan," Ino said. Hinata nodded slightly and looked at the ground and twiddled her fingers together.

Suddenly the bell that signaled the beginning of the school day rang out over the school yard. Ino and Hinata smiled briefly at each other reveling in the important conversation they had just shared. They stayed out in the warm morning rays as long as they could before the final warning bell rang and they both jogged to the class room.

The final bell rang as Ino, Hinata, and Naruto all bolted into the room one right after the other in a single file line. Ino took a seat next to Alexis, a girl Ino knew very little about other than the fact that she was one of the few non-Sasuke fangirls in the class, and a small kind girl who had no qualms about voicing her opinions. Naruto and Hinata took seats directly beside each other, and secretly held hands under the table for the first half of the day.

OoOoO

The day had begun and everything was proceeding as per the status quo… until Mizuki asked Iruka why Kiba Inuzuka was absent for the day. Iruka quickly explained that Kiba had his pride, and a few vital organs, wounded in a spar and that he was too ashamed to attend school for the day. Mizuki nodded and let the question drop as he saw that Iruka wasn't going to divulge anymore information.

OoOoO

The day was half over as Iruka called the class to order. "Okay students since this is the day before the exam to test if you are ready to become ninja is due to happen then we are going to have an exam on transformation jutsu."

Everyone in the class moaned as the formed a straight and orderly line in the front of the class room and began transforming into exact replicas of Iruka or Mizuki. Many of the students created exact replicas and as such earned perfect marks and a comment such as, "Very good," or "Perfectly executed, well done."

As the rest of the class had already gone it was Naruto's turn to do the transformation jutsu. He stood at the front of the class room and began to mold his chakra slowly in an effort to make his clone look just right, visualizing it in his head as he felt his chakra reach just the right amount to transform. At the exact instant everything came together for Naruto he yelled "Transform!" and with a puff of smoke he transformed into a tall blonde man with a white trench coat with flame designs lining the bottom.

The entire room became hushed as everyone realized who the transformation was. Iruka and Mizuki were slack jawed at the sight of someone who they regarded as still the greatest Hokage to ever live.

Naruto cleared his throat as he saw the look on his teachers faces and felt the eyes of almost his entire class drilling into his back. "Um sensei? It's still me Naruto," With that Naruto released the transformation jutsu and in a cloud of smoke a slightly short for his age blonde in a garishly orange jumpsuit reappeared and it was this change that jolted Iruka and Mizuki out of their revere.

Iruka nodded and praised Naruto for his achievements in transforming so well into the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto felt a blush creeping up on his cheeks at the unaccustomed feeling of praise from an authority figure. Naruto turned to the class and saw that everyone still hadn't quite recovered from the shock of the unexpectedly perfect transformation. "What's wrong everybody?" Naruto asked the class rather pleasantly. "Did you not expect the dead last to be able to perform a perfect transformation jutsu?" Naruto asked with venom lacing his every word.

The entire class seemed to cringe as one being at the feeling of shame that stole over them. Many people in the class had in fact doubted that Naruto could pull off even a simple transformation jutsu, and after seeing the nearly perfect transformation into the likeness of the Yondaime Hokage they were all shocked beyond words, with the exception of two in the class.

Naruto made one last sweep of the room, making no attempt at hiding the contempt on his face, before making the short journey back to his seat. After sitting down for a few minutes he felt hot, warm breath on his neck. "You did really good Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "but next time maybe you could try to not make the whole class hate you, huh?"

Naruto merely growled and said, "I don't care if they hate me. At least if they hate me I get their recognition. I would rather be hated for who I really am than be loved for who someone has labeled me."

Hinata didn't say anything more, just sat back in her seat and looked at Naruto, wondering how he had gotten so hung up on the recognition of a village full of people who would just as soon kill him as praise him. Hinata merely sat back in her seat and watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye. During this she noticed his eyes glazed over multiple times, as though he was talking to the monster he had sealed into his stomach.

It was during one of the moments when Naruto was in his mindscape when Iruka called out, "Naruto I need you and Hinata to stay after class today. I need to talk to the both of you about something very important." Naruto did not hear Iruka, and Iruka realized this. Iruka managed to reign in his anger at his dead last student and merely got conformation from Hinata that she would make sure both of them would be staying after.

OoOoO

Naruto and Hinata were standing in front of one of the few people that knew their secret that was not family. Iruka smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile at his students before saying, "Naruto, Hinata the Hokage would like to see you at the Hokage tower after I release you from class." Iruka noted the look of betrayal obvious on Narutos face before continuing, "I did not tell him your secrets Naruto. He did however tell me that the two of you managed to enter the main part of the village last night, from a training ground, at a speed that surprised the ANBU on patrol that night. I will send word to your father Hinata that you are in an important meeting with the Hokage."

Naruto and Hinata both nodded their consent to their teacher and turned to walk out the door.

Iruka watched his students go with a pang of guilt. _'Forgive me Naruto, Hinata. If there had been any other way I could have warned the Hokage without revealing your secrets I would have.' _


End file.
